Warriors United
by Lady Khera
Summary: The Ronin Warriors learn of 5 new armors, worn by the new students of their school. The ten warriors team up to fight against Tulpa.
1. Chapter 1

"Boys and girls, I have four new students to introduce to you all," Principal Ho announced, addressing the mass of extremely bored students sitting in the assembly hall. "Nahala Fraser," he said, indicating a short girl with long, blue-black hair and cat-like eyes the color of the sea. "Calypso Ravana," he gestured to another short girl with long, silver streaked red hair and bright green eyes. "Téa Jackson," he nodded toward a bored looking, taller girl with shorter honey brown hair and amber colored eyes, "and Elisa Dupree," he gestured to an excited looking girl with short, pink-streaked white hair and innocent looking brown eyes, "are joining us from the United States. Please do your best to make them feel welcome here at Han a' High. You are dismissed to go to your first period classes."  
  
His words were followed by a typical high school student stampede as the crowd of teenagers hurried out the door to their first period classes. Principal Ho turned to the girls, "Good morning ladies. I hope you enjoy attending Han a' High." With that, he turned and left the room.  
  
"I hope you enjoy attending Han a' High," Calypso mimicked Principal Ho's dull, lifeless voice.  
  
Téa snickered, "I thought I was gonna fall asleep! I hereby swear that I will not get into a single fight here for fear of being literally bored to death by Mr. Ho's voice." Both girls giggled.  
  
"Quiet you two," Nahla commanded, tossing her hair, "Principal Ho is an authority figure and he deserves your respect whether you like it or not."  
  
"Whatever Nahla," Calypso replied tossing her hair mockingly, "I'll say what I like."  
  
"Don't start y'all," Elisa warned, her usually soft Southern accent getting stronger with annoyance, "Let's get to class."  
  
"Elisa's right. Besides, we don't wanna miss our first day of Chemistry do we Calypso?" Téa added with sarcasm.  
  
"No, never!" Calypso replied in mock horror. "See you later Nahla," she added with sarcastic sweetness. The girls walked out of the room heading for their respective classes.  
  
~ [ ~  
  
"Hey Rowen, glad you could make it to school," Sage said with a smile, "You missed the excitement. We have four gorgeous new girls starting today from the United States."  
  
"Really?" Rowen replied not looking up from his Chemistry book, "Oh well, it gave me extra time to get to school. Are you ready to start the assignment?"  
  
"Yeah okay. Anyways, you should see them, they are absolutely beautiful!" Sage continued, "I wonder if I have classes with any of them." His thought was answered a few seconds later as the door opened, admitting the red head and the one with the gold eyes.  
  
"Class I would like to introduce two of our new students, Calypso Ravana and Téa Jackson. Do I have any volunteers to help them get into the routine?" the teacher asked. Several hands shot up, all of them male. The teacher sighed and turned to the girls, "I'm Ms. Jo. Why don't you join Rowen and Sage since they are the top students in the class."  
  
The girls looked towards the table Ms. Jo had pointed to. The one with the blue hair, was reading through the Chemistry book, while the blond smiled flirtatiously. Téa looked at Calypso who was rolling her eyes and laughed slightly, "Okay Ms. Jo. Thank you." She and Calypso walked to the table and sat down.  
  
"Hello ladies. I am Sage and this is Rowen," the blond said, kissing Téa's hand, "I am very pleased to meet you."  
  
Téa pulled her hand away with some difficulty and replied sweetly, "Nice to meet you, I'm Téa. Don't play Romeo with me hon' I don't buy it. I don't suggest trying with Calypso, she gets a little touchy about things like that, okay?"  
  
Sage's eyes widened, "Uh, okay, sure."  
  
The other boy, Rowen, laughed, "Congratulations. I don't think any girl has ever made him speechless before. You, Calypso, and your other two friends have to join us for lunch, I'd like to see you shock Sage some more."  
  
"Coo'. Okay, we'll join you," Téa looked toward the front of the class, "I think it's time to start class."  
  
~ [ ~  
  
"Welcome to class Elisa, please go to the back of the room and obtain a Literature book. You may also take the seat next to Sai in the back there," the teacher said.  
  
"Yes sir, Mr. Jackson," Elisa replied, heading to the back of the room. She grabbed a book and sat down next to the boy Mr. Jackson had pointed out as Sai. "Hi," she whispered softly, "I'm Elisa. What're we studying right now?"  
  
Sai wouldn't meet her eyes, but he replied softly, "Greek mythology."  
  
:Hmmm. He's shy. This oughta be fun,: she thought to herself. "Great!" she whispered enthusiastically, "That's my favorite subject."  
  
"I hope so," he replied, "because Mr. Jackson assigned a huge project on this section. In fact, I think we're choosing partners for it today."  
  
"It's all good, it oughta be fun," Elisa replied.  
  
"Okay class, today we're choosing partners and beginning work on the Greek mythology project. Elisa, would you like a few days to get into the feel of things?" Mr. Jackson asked, interrupting Elisa and Sai's quiet conversation.  
  
"No thank you, sir. I think I'll be fine," she replied, then to Sai, "Would you like to be my partner?" Sai hesitated. "I know lots about Greek mythology," she added enticingly, "and we can work on it at lunch."  
  
"Okay," Sai agreed, "What have I got to lose?"  
  
Elisa grinned wickedly, "Your sanity."  
  
~ [ ~  
  
"Tomorrow we will be having an art test based on simple drawing techniques. Ms. Fraser, you will be expected to take this test as well," Mr. Thompson announced to the class.  
  
Nahla groaned, :I can't draw! I'm going to fail art here too. I absolutely cannot have an 'F' on my transcripts!: she thought to herself. She played absently with the blood star hanging around her neck. A teardrop-shaped ruby with a star-shaped onyx set inside, it was extremely rare. As far as Nahla knew only she, Téa, Calypso, and Elisa had one. Each of the girls had their stones set into a different piece of jewelry. Calypso wore hers on a leather choker, while Téa's was hung on a leather thong. Nahla wore hers on a silver chain, and Elisa velvet choker. :It's hard to believe we're all together because of these little stones,: she mused, :These four stones are the reason we're fighting the Dynasty together.: As an afterthought, she added, :Not to mention each other.: She sighed, :Now if only we could find the other five Ronin Warriors. It's getting harder and harder to fight the dynasty by ourselves.:  
  
"Hi, I'm Ryo," a soft voice interrupted her thoughts, "You don't look too enthusiastic about the art test tomorrow."  
  
Nahla turned, "Oh hi," she replied in her soft Scottish accent, "I'm Nahala Fraser, call me Nahla. Nice to meet you. And to answer your comment, yes, I'm very worried about the test. I have to take some kind of art class in order to graduate from high school, and I can barely draw a straight line with a ruler! If I fail art, then I'm going to have an 'F' on my transcripts. I cannot afford that! Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to dump my problems on you like that."  
  
Ryo chuckled, "That's okay. I'll tell you what, if you would like to join myself and my friends at lunch, we can discuss ways to keep you from failing this class, how does that sound?"  
  
"Really?" Nahla asked, "Oh I'd love to! But wait, I'm going to be sitting with the other three girls. We always sit together."  
  
"Well, they're invited as well," he replied, "We have the rest of the period free, so how about we just talk?"  
  
"Sounds good," she answered.  
  
"So, what brings you to Japan?" he asked her.  
  
"Calypso and Téa," Nahla replied quickly, "that is, the red-head and the brunette. They got into fights constantly at our last school and, well, Téa managed to get herself expelled. We had to move somewhere else so that she could graduate at the right time."  
  
"What do you mean 'we'?" he asked, "Couldn't she have moved and the rest of you stay at your old school?"  
  
"Well, yes, but it would have made things really difficult. We don't like to be separated from each other, it's proven to be dangerous. Besides, it's easier for us to all move than get separated," she explained.  
  
"So why did you choose Japan?"  
  
"Téa's father is extremely wealthy, and he has guardianship of our group except for Calypso since she's eighteen. Elisa and I were both orphaned after we had known Téa for awhile, and since neither of us have any other family, Téa's father took us in. Daddy told her that we could move wherever we wanted, and we all agreed that we wanted to go to Japan. He even paid for the houses we're living in."  
  
Ryo's eyes widened, "You mean you have more than one house?"  
  
"Well, yeah," Nahla replied, "Our main house is out by Jewel Lake, which is too far to be driving back and forth during school days, so Daddy got us a smaller one here in the city. Like I said, Daddy is extremely wealthy. Each of us have our own car, including Calypso. All four of us are practically sisters."  
  
"Wow! You guys are rich. It must be nice. You know, I can relate to both you and Elisa, even though I haven't met her. I was orphaned a long time ago, except I still have my grandmother to care for me," Ryo said. Just then the bell rang, signaling the end of class. "Well, time to go to our next period classes, I'll see you at lunch. My friends and I always eat out under the cherry trees in back of the school."  
  
"Okay, and thanks for the invitation. We'll be there," Nahla replied.  
  
~ [ ~  
  
"Ladies and gentlemen, we will be following the same routine that we followed yesterday, the girls will be playing tennis and the boys will be playing football, you may go to your respective areas," the PE instructor called out in a loud voice.  
  
Téa and Calypso waited after the rest of the girls had headed to the tennis courts. "Mr. Lee," Téa asked softly, "we wanted to ask you something."  
  
"What do you want ladies?" he asked, allowing only a little annoyance to show.  
  
"Do the girls get to play football?" she replied.  
  
Mr. Lee looked scandalized, "No, they do not get to play football. It is thought by both myself and Mr. Ho that football is too dangerous for girls to play. During the football program, the girls are sent to play tennis. Why do you ask?"  
  
"Why you little-" Calypso muttered, but was quickly silenced by an elbow in the ribs from Téa.  
  
"Are the girls allowed to play football?" Téa asked.  
  
"I suppose they are," Mr. Lee replied haltingly, "No girl has ever asked to play football before. Why, do you two ladies want to play?"  
  
"Well, yes! We two ladies would like to play," Téa replied, letting her annoyance show through, "Is there a problem with that?"  
  
"No," the coach replied, "It just means that I'll have to tell the boys to lay off a little, that's all."  
  
"You better not," Calypso said, "We're tougher than you think. We can take whatever the boys have to give us and dish it out right back."  
  
"Okay, if you ladies are sure. Get down to the football field and get ready to play."  
  
"Yessir," the girls replied in unison, running down to the football field.  
  
The guys eyed Téa and Calypso suspiciously. "Coach," one of them called, "you're letting girls play with us?!?"  
  
"Yes Kento," Mr. Lee replied, "Men, this is Téa and Calypso, they will be joining us to play football." He turned to the girls, "You two do understand that this is full-contact, tackle football."  
  
The girls shrugged in reply. "The rougher the better," Téa replied.  
  
"Okay, you two are on Kento's team since he's short four players today."  
  
"What?!?" Kento exclaimed, "I don't want any girls on my team!"  
  
Calypso smiled maliciously at him, "Don't judge us until you've seen us play. We might surprise you."  
  
"Yeah right, and I won't eat lunch today," Kento grumbled. Before he could complain anymore, Mr. Lee called for the game to start. The two teams got into a huddle.  
  
"Ryo," Mr. Lee called out, "Your team will be receiving today."  
  
Calypso looked up from the huddle in time to see a good-looking guy with black hair nod his head and get back down into the huddle. "All right," Kento called, "ready, BREAK!" The two teams got ready to play. Kento kicked the ball and it was caught by Ryo who was hidden by five of his team mates. Ryo's "group" ran towards their goal, keeping Ryo hidden and keeping Kento's team from seeing who had the ball. One by one, members of Kento's team tackled members of Ryo's group. Finally Ryo was running on his own with no one left to stop him, or so he thought.  
  
Téa guessed that the black-haired boy had the ball when she realized that the others were keeping him in the middle of the pack. Instead of following the rest of her team, she moved off to the side and out of their line of sight. After the rest of Kento's team had been temporarily taken out of play, Téa saw that she had made the right guess. The black-haired boy, Ryo, was running to make a touch-down and no one was near enough to tackle him. Téa took her chance. She used a quick burst of speed and managed to get almost along side Ryo. Moving toward him, yet staying out of his line of sight, she snuck up behind him and leaped as he passed the twenty-five yard line. Her aim was good, she tackled him seconds later and they both went crashing to the ground. She laughed breathlessly, trying to get some air into her lungs at the same time. Rolling off of Ryo, she sat up and smiled down into his extremely surprised eyes. "Tackle," she said simply.  
  
Ryo laughed as several of the guys on Téa's team ran up and tackled her. Shouts of "Whoa! No one's ever caught up with Ryo!" and "Great tackle!" rang through the air.  
  
Téa shrieked as her other team members tackled her. "Get off me you lousy peoples!" she shouted happily at the guys. One by one they moved away so that she could breathe again. A shadow crossed her line of vision and she looked up to see Kento standing in front of her. They eyed each other warily for a moment before Kento broke out into a grin.  
  
"Great tackle," he said as he offered her a hand.  
  
Téa took it, "Thanks," she replied, "I try." The game continued in a similar manner for the rest of the period. Téa and Calypso brought about Kento's team's first win of the "season" and everyone was in high spirits…especially the members on Ryo's team whom either Calypso or Téa tackled.  
  
"So, would you ladies like to join us for lunch?" Ryo asked the girls as they walked towards the gym and thankfully, the locker rooms.  
  
"We'd love to, but we already promised to join a couple of other guys," Calypso replied apprehensively, she was beginning to develop a crush on Ryo.  
  
"Really?" Kento asked, "Who?"  
  
"Sage and Rowen," Téa replied with a sweet smile.  
  
"Well in that case, you will be joining us for lunch. We always sit together at lunch, along with one other person, Sai," Ryo grinned, "By the way, your other friend, Nahala is going to be joining us as well."  
  
"In that case, we'll see you at lunch," Calypso accepted.  
  
"Great!" Kento exclaimed, "We'll be sitting out under the cherry trees in case you miss us. Well, we better get going."  
  
"Bye!" the girls called, running for the locker rooms.  
  
~ [ ~  
  
The rest of the day passed by uneventfully for Nahala. She ended up skipping lunch so that she could go to the library to do a little research on basic art. After school, she had gone to the public library to get even more. Now she was on her way home to study some more. She was truly worried, tomorrow's art test was getting closer and closer and she still couldn't draw. She had studied the books she had found on art styles for nearly four hours but still had not managed to learn the 'miracle cure' for those lacking in artistic talent. She brushed a strand of jet black hair out of her eyes as she looked at the fading sky and new evening stars. Even studying every classic artist she could think of hadn't helped.  
  
With her eyes towards the sky, she completely missed the street curb. "Oof!" she cried as she fell. She lay face down in the street, the books she had just checked out from the library scattered all the way into the middle.  
  
Rowen had been walking home from a study session and he saw the entire incident. He ran out into the street and retrieved the girl's books and scattered papers. He walked up to the girl and helped her up. "Are you okay! That's a tricky step there," he said.  
  
"Fine, fine thank you. Hey, aren't you in my AP Calculus class?" the girl replied.  
  
Under the light of the street lamp Rowen got a better look at her. "Yeah. You're Nahala Fraser, one of the new girls from the United States, right?"  
  
"Uh huh. We just moved here from Hawaii," she replied, "I don't recall your name though."  
  
"Oh, I'm Rowen Hashiba. By the way, you have an odd accent, even for an American," he answered.  
  
"That's because I'm from Scotland, not the US," Nahla replied with a genuine smile. She liked Rowen, he wasn't acting like most of the other guys at school. He was mature, not as flirtatious as a rabbit.  
  
"Really? Wow! What's it like? Is it like all the pictures show it, all green and beautiful?" Rowen asked with enthusiasm. They had begun to walk again.  
  
"Oh yeah! It's better than in pictures. Pictures can't capture the true beauty of Scotland " Nahala replied. The conversation continued along the same lines until they arrived in front of a somewhat large house.  
  
Rowen looked up to see a traditional Japanese style house. From inside, he could hear the American group 'Death of the Future' singing their most popular song, Amnesiac Baby.  
  
"God damn it!" Nahla muttered, opening the gate and running into the house. Rowen followed slowly behind, unsure of what to do. Suddenly, a loud roar was heard over the music, followed shortly by a loud scream. Nahala ran back out of the house, followed closely by a huge red cat. Running behind the cat came four other girls. Nahala ran past Rowen and out across the street. Fearing for the small, dark-haired girl he had begun to take an interest in, Rowen jumped in front of the cat, taking her attention away from Nahla. The cat didn't slow down, instead, she attacked Rowen.  
  
"Chaos, get off of Rowen now!" Nahala shrieked, coming closer. The cat looked up and left off her attack on Rowen, pouncing on Nahla. "Ow!" Nahla yelled.  
  
"Hey, get off of her!" Rowen yelled, grabbing the cat's golden collar and pulling her off of Nahla as the girl hit the cat continuously.  
  
"No! Stop it! Don't hit her!" cried a red-headed girl as she pushed Rowen away and throwing her arms protectively around the cat's neck. "She was only protecting me. She didn't expect Nahla to come screaming into the house, and it's instinct to chase something that's running away."  
  
"Whatever!" Nahla growled, sitting up, "That panther has been nothing but trouble since you found her.  
  
"Oh yeah? And what about Angel?" the red-head, who Rowen vaguely recognized as Calypso, "If I remember correctly, Angel's the reason we had to move from Washington." She stood up, "From what I recall, Chaos doesn't have a habit of chasing defenseless kids walking down the street carrying their school pets!"  
  
"That's it!" Nahla cried, jumping at Calypso. The two began to fight. The other three girls watched for a second before Téa and a strawberry blonde that Rowen didn't recognize moved in and dragged the two girls apart. "  
  
"Hey sis, stop! You're disturbing the neighbors," Téa said softly to Nahla. The strawberry blond said nothing, just stood there and kept Calypso from attacking Nahla again.  
  
"Yeah, well Calypso started it by insulting my baby. Angel didn't do anything to her," Nahla argued. Her nose was bleeding, which always ended up happening when she and Calypso fought.  
  
"I don't care who started it, you two are acting like a couple of kids. Even I don't get into fights over a few angry words," Téa replied with annoyance, "And Calypso, you know how sensitive Nahla is about insults towards Angel. Both of you should apologize to each other."  
  
Both girls turned angry glances at Téa. "Shut up Téa," they said in unison. Calypso got out of the blonde's grasp and stalked up to the house, slamming the door behind her.  
  
Nahla stayed put, so Téa let her go. "Why the hell do you two hate each other so much?" Elisa asked softly.  
  
"Because she's a bitch," Nahla replied without looking up.  
  
Rowen cleared his throat, "I don't mean to interrupt but I'm completely lost here."  
  
Téa turned and smiled at Rowen. She had forgotten him during the fight. "I'm sorry Rowen," she said sweetly, "How about I walk you home and I'll see if I can straighten things out for you."  
  
"Okay, let's go. Besides, I have to get back to the house before the guys come looking for me," he replied. They began walking towards the house where Rowen lived with Ryo, Sage, Kento, and Sai. "So what's up with Calypso and Nahala?" he asked after they were out of earshot.  
  
"I don't really know," Téa replied absently, "They've always fought, they just don't seem to get along." She shrugged, she was beginning to get a strange feeling as if she recognized Rowen from somewhere. :Now that I think about it,: she thought to herself, :I got the same feeling around the other guys as well. It's almost as if I should know them from somewhere.:  
  
Meanwhile, Rowen was beginning to get the same feeling. :Why do I feel as if I know her? It's strange. I'm wonder if we can trust her and her friends, I sense a lot of power around them. I'll have to ask the other guys about it, I wonder if they got the same feelings.: He stopped and turned to Téa. "Well, this is our house. I guess I'll see you tomorrow," he said smiling a bit uncomfortably.  
  
"Yeah, I s'pose so," Téa replied with a smile of her own, "Have a good night."  
  
"You too," Rowen said as she began to walk back towards her house. Téa waved without turning around.  
  
:That is just too strange for words,: Téa thought, :They all have a lot of hidden power. I wonder if they're with the Dynasty. That would really suck 'cuz Sai is really cute. Hell, they're all pretty cute. Well, I better get back to the house so we can talk to that girl that Calypso brought home with her. I can't believe there are five female Ronins and five male. Hmmm- I wonder: Her thoughts were interrupted by an all too familiar noise. She looked up from her musings and her suspicions were confirmed. Not twenty feet away stood Dais, looking very annoyed and very ready to fight. :Shee- it!: was all that she managed to think before he charged. 


	2. Chapter 2

Téa took a deep breath and waited until Dais was nearly upon her before leaping out of the way of his attack. Standing up, she realized that Cale and Sekhmet had decided to join the fight as well. The two attacked simultaneously, robbing Téa of any chance she may have had to move out of the way. Suddenly the cry of two sure kills rang out in the air.  
  
"Super Wave Smasher!"  
  
"Thunder Bolt Cut!"  
  
Téa breathed in a sigh of both excitement and relief as Cale and Sekhmet were knocked away from their intended target…her. I'll have to thank the warlords for helping me find the other five Ronin Warriors, she thought as she stood up, :But first, it's time to introduce myself.: She pulled out her armor orb. "Armor of Angelfire! DAO JINKEI!" she cried. A ball of silver blue flame flared up around her. In an instant the flames were gone, leaving Téa standing in full armor.  
  
She flashed a brilliant smile at both the warlords and the Ronin Warriors. "You know, Dais, Cale, Sekhmet, I must congratulate you. Not only did you find the other Ronins for me and my sisters, you brought us together as well. Talpa's gonna love you for that!" she said to the warlords, her voice dripping with sarcastic sweetness. Turning to the Ronins, who stood gaping at her, "I assure you, all will be explained. But first, we fight." She moved into a fighting stance, pulling out her twin rapiers. The other five seemed to decide that she was on their side and followed her lead.  
  
"I hope you're ready to die," Dais said in a dangerously quiet voice, "Because I intend to kill you all." He called up an army of Dynasty soldiers, "But first, I'll let my soldiers play with you."  
  
:Calypso!: Téa called, using the mind link that she and the other girls shared, :I don't know if you're interested,: she blocked the attack of two soldiers and relieved both of their heads, :but I happen to be in down the street fighting alongside the other five Ronins and having one helluva party!:  
  
Calypso's excitement was evident in her reply, :Save something for me, I'll be there in a minute!:  
  
:You better hurry!: was all Téa said in reply. Calypso appeared a few minutes later, arriving through one of her portals. "Took you long enough," Téa said with sarcasm.  
  
"How nice!" Calypso replied, using her broadsword to slice through three of the Dynasty soldiers at once. "Shall we blast these goons?" she asked.  
  
Téa nodded and the girls got ready to use their sure kills. "Rage of Angels!" she cried. Hundreds of silver blue rings erupted from her crossed rapiers, surrounding the girls and destroying all the Dynasty soldiers in their path. She leaned against Calypso, momentarily tired out. She didn't rest for long before she was moving again. This time to leap towards the young man bearing the Armor of Torrent and knock him to the ground. Seconds later, Cale's sure kill passed over them both.  
  
Turning to the warlords, Calypso cried "Ravana's Chaos!" Enveloped in darkness, with only her silhouette visible, the blood star and the crescent moon on her stomach glowed brightly. Silver wings took form, closing around her and brightening until they blinded the warlords. When the light cleared, all three warlords stood in their subarmors, a confused look on their faces.  
  
"You will live to regret this girls," Dais threatened as he and the other two warlords faded from view.  
  
Téa laughed breathlessly from where she was still laying next to Torrent, who was looking up at her in surprise. She smiled, looking into his eyes. What she saw made her gasp, "Sai?!? You're a Ronin?!"  
  
He nodded, but otherwise didn't move. A shadow fell across them both. "Okay," a familiar voice said humorously, "Sai, you're about to make Sage jealous."  
  
Téa leaped up. "Kento!" she exclaimed, hugging him. Then she looked at him somewhat seriously. "What do you mean I'm going to make Sage jealous?"  
  
"He's been sprung on you since you brushed him off this morning in Chemistry," Kento replied, then added as an afterthought, "Then again, he's been sprung on all of you because none of you will give him the time of day."  
  
Everyone laughed and Téa smiled at Sage and Sai. "Thank you for helping me," she said, then to Sage, "I'm sorry that I haven't melted at your feet from your charm, but if you really want to know, keep working on Elisa. You two would make an adorable couple."  
  
Sage looked away, with a slight blush and mumbled something incoherent.  
  
"Why, I do believe he's embarrassed!" Rowen exclaimed. Sage shot him a dirty look.  
  
"I hate to break up the fun, but I don't think this is the best place for a friendly conversation. We should get moving," said Ryo.  
  
Téa turned to Ryo, "I s'pose you're right. We have a few things to take care of."  
  
"Why don't you guys come to our house?" Calypso asked, "It's closer."  
  
"No it's no…" Ryo began. He yelped in surprise as one of Calypso's portals opened beneath them and dropped them into the girls' living room.  
  
Calypso grinned wickedly, "Yeah it is." Three girls came rushing in from the kitchen.  
  
"What's going on?" Elisa asked.  
  
"A party," Téa replied, "Surprise!"  
  
"Wait a minute, hold up here," Ryo's voice rang out, "Who are you?"  
  
"We'll tell you whatever you want to know on one condition," Calypso interrupted as she and Téa banished their armors, "Get out of your armors."  
  
"Good enough," Ryo replied. The five warriors banished their armors and everyone took a seat in the living room.  
  
"Now," Téa started from her perch on the arm of one of the overstuffed chairs, "Where do we start?"  
  
Sai looked up at her from where he was sitting in the same chair, "Who are you?"  
  
"To start at the beginning, there are fourteen armors," Nahla said from where she and Rowen were sitting on the love seat.  
  
"Fourteen?" Rowen asked, "We thought there were only nine."  
  
"You thought wrong," Calypso replied, "Before we continue, I would like to introduce everyone to Nina." She gestured to a strawberry blond girl that none of the guys recognized. "I met her today in the marketplace, she's one of us."  
  
"How do you know that?" Nahla asked.  
  
Here we go again, Téa groaned, Not another fight! Especially when we're trying to have a civilized discussion.  
  
"Don't start mates," Nina said sternly with an Australian accent, "I've seen enough of your fighting today. We have things to discuss and I am not about to stay up all night because you two feel the need to fight."  
  
Both girls gave her a dirty look but shut up. "Don't worry Nina," Téa said wryly, "You'll start ignoring their fights in no time and you won't even care when they're going on."  
  
Two cats walked into the room. One, the huge red panther that Rowen, from earlier in the evening, recognized as Chaos. The other was a white Bengal tiger. "Hey, who's the tiger?" he asked curiously, "He looks like White Blaze."  
  
"Oh, that's Angel," Nahla said off-handedly, "Who's White Blaze?"  
  
"That's my tiger," Ryo answered, "Rowen's right, they do look a lot alike. What about the panther?"  
  
"That's my Chaos," Calypso replied, scratching the big cat behind the ears.  
  
"Well, back to the subject," Sai said, "What are your armors?"  
  
"Mine is the Armor of Angelfire," Téa said, "Nahla's is the Armor of Sunfire, Elisa's is the Armor of Lust, Calypso's the Armor of Chaos, and…"  
  
"I bear the Armor of Dark Soul," Nina finished for her.  
  
"To answer your earlier question Nahla," Calypso said, "I know she's one of us the same way we know about each other. For one, she has a blood star, and for another, she has the birthmark."  
  
Sage broke eye contact with Elisa long enough to look at Calypso questioningly, "Birthmark?"  
  
"Yeah. Each of us girls has a star-shaped birthmark," Téa explained. She pulled up the sleeve covering her right arm revealing a dark blue star, "This is mine."  
  
Calypso turned and pulled up the back of her shirt. A dark red and silver star was exposed on the small of her back. "Here's mine."  
  
"Mine is here," Nina said, lifting her shirt to reveal a black and gold star over her belly button.  
  
Nahla didn't show hers. "Where's yours Nahla?" Rowen asked curiously.  
  
She smiled at him, "So far up on my thigh that showing it to you would be indecent. It's light blue."  
  
"And apparently Elisa's is over her belly button as well," Sage finished, noting the pink star revealed below the hem of her short shirt.  
  
"Okay, so that explains the birthmark, what about the blood star?" Ryo asked. Each of the girls pulled out a piece of jewelry. Somewhere on each piece was a teardrop-shaped ruby with a black star inside.  
  
"Each of us had one of these when we first met. Cali was the only one who actually knew about the armors, but the rest of us learned about them quickly enough when Talpa sent his warlords after us," Téa said. She looked at Nina, "It seems that you also know about the armors. How did you find out about them?"  
  
Nina shrugged, "Those that follow the old ways are a lot more knowledgeable about magic and the like. I spent a lot of time with the Aborigine tribes in Australia. They knew the location of the orb of the Armor of Dark Soul and they sensed that I was the one the armor was being saved for. They taught me how to use the armor and told me to come here to Japan. They said I was needed to help in the fight against Talpa, so I came. I ran into Cali in the market today and she brought me here."  
  
"Oh," Téa replied.  
  
"Well, how did the rest of you meet?" Kento asked.  
  
"We all ended up transferring to the same high school in Washington," Cali said, "I was the last person to transfer and Téa was the first person I met. Mainly because we got into a huge fight."  
  
"Oh yeah, I remember that," Téa laughed, "But now that I think of it, what were we fighting about?"  
  
Calypso thought for a moment. "I don't really remember. Then again, how often do we remember what we fight about?"  
  
"Good point. I don't think we ever really fight about anything, we just start yelling at each other for the hell of it." Téa looked at Nahla, "On the other hand…"  
  
Nahla smiled at the guys, all of whom had a blank look on their faces, "Let me try to explain. Téa and Cali love to fight, to the point of starting a fight with each other just to have something to do. Cali and I also fight…almost constantly. We simply do not get along. But we do all stick together because of our common goal…to get rid of Talpa. Well, that and the fact that we are good friends, regardless of our fighting."  
  
Téa looked at the guys, "Any more questions?" Each of them shook their head except for Kento.  
  
"Do you have anything to eat?" he asked hopefully.  
  
Téa laughed, "Yes Kento. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to run upstairs and get out of this damn school uniform. I'll bring some food out on my way back." She jumped off of the arm of the chair and ran up the stairs taking three at a time.  
  
Cali stood up as well and went over to the stereo. She popped in a random CD and hit the play button. "Sorry," she said to the guys, "I like music."  
  
About fifteen minutes later, Téa reappeared, carrying a tray of food and singing to the song on the CD player. "It's just, a little crush. Not like I faint, every time we touch…" She smiled sweetly and sat the tray on the table where Kento immediately began to eat, "Cali likes to listen to music, I like to sing to it." She was now dressed in a pair of faded blue jeans and a pair of tank tops, one silver and one gold. She did a little pirouette, sat back down on the arm of Sai's chair and grinned, "I like to dance, too."  
  
"Hey Kento," Cali said with a smile, "Before you eat everything, could you toss me a peach?" Kento didn't answer but tossed her one in reply.  
  
"That sounds really good," Téa agreed, she went back to where she had set the tray and grabbed one for herself. She turned to Sai, "Want something?"  
  
Sai shook his head, blushing slightly. "No thanks."  
  
The new group of friends continued to talk for the next few hours. Finally at about 11:00 Ryo stood up, "Well, it's been great talking to you all but we should be going. We do have school tomorrow if you recall."  
  
"He's right," Sage agreed, "Especially if we want to get Rowen up in time for school tomorrow."  
  
"You too?" Téa asked Rowen, she turned to the other girls, "See! I'm not the only one who likes to sleep." Everyone laughed as the guys headed towards the door.  
  
"See you tomorrow," they said as they left.  
  
"Bye!" 


	3. Chapter 3

Téa and Cali sat in the waiting room of the principal's office, fuming silently. :I can't believe I got caught!: Calypso sent silently to Téa.  
  
:Believe it dear,: Téa replied, :I think you've lost your touch. Don't worry about it though, I don't think we'll be getting into too much trouble, after all, there were tons of witnesses that saw we were only acting in self defense.: She smiled softly, "I really hate men right now." She and Cali had been walking down the hallway after PE when a couple of guys from Ryo's team, who had lost once again, came up behind them. One of them slapped Téa on the ass. The girls had reacted quickly, each of them slamming one of the guys up against the lockers. Unfortunately, Mr. Ho had been walking by at that moment and caught the girls. He had immediately taken the four to his office where Téa and Cali were currently awaiting their turn to speak to him. The door to his office opened and the two offenders stepped out, a satisfied look on each of their faces.  
  
::Hmm, I wonder why they look so smug,:: Cali sent to Téa. The other girl shrugged and lead the way into the principal's office. Mr. Ho sat behind his desk, studying the girls' files. He looked up when Cali closed the door behind her.  
  
"Hello ladies, please sit," he said. He looked back down at their files, "Téa, I do believe this isn't your first fight at school, is it?"  
  
Téa spoke softly, "No sir. But we weren't…"  
  
Mr. Ho waved his hand, cutting her off, "I've heard it before miss. You weren't fighting, I know. The boys told me that you two attacked them for giving you a few compliments on your appearance."  
  
Cali shot up out of her chair, "But sir, they weren't complimenting us!" The principal looked at her calmly and gestured to her chair. Reluctantly, Cali sat back down.  
  
"What were they doing then Miss Ravana?" he asked.  
  
"One of them slapped Téa on the rear," Cali said.  
  
He looked at Téa, "Is this true Miss Jackson?"  
  
Téa nodded, "There were plenty of witnesses, ask some of the people that were nearby."  
  
He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Okay, I'll do that. Until I have talked to them, though, I want you two to stay at home. You are not to go to any more of your classes today, you are to go directly home. Is that understood?"  
  
The two girls nodded and stood up. "Yes sir," Téa said with no expression in her voice. She and Cali left the principal's office and headed for their lockers. ::I can't believe this!:: Téa sent to Cali, ::He's completely ready to believe those two punks!:: She slammed her locker shut and stalked towards the doors of the school.  
  
Cali followed closely behind. ::Damn Téa! Calm down!:: she sent in reply, ::Hold up, I'm going to go tell the group where we're gonna be.::  
  
Téa nodded and followed behind Cali, trying to calm her temper. She jogged the short distance to catch up. "Well, what are we gonna do for the rest of the day after we head home?" she said aloud when she reached her friend.  
  
"Oh, I dunno. Why don't we go to the beach or something?" Cali laughed, "I'm beginning to like the idea of getting kicked out of school for fighting, it gives us more free time."  
  
Téa laughed as well, "You know, that must be the reason I always get caught. My subconscious is trying to tell me it wants some time to play. Unfortunately it also makes things more difficult later on at other schools, as you witnessed today with Mr. Ho." She and Cali stopped in front of the others who were sitting under the cherry trees.  
  
Cali grinned at the look she saw in Elisa's eyes as they joined the group, "Yup, you're thinking along the right lines Elisa, me and Téa got kicked out of school for…"  
  
Téa snickered, "…fighting. If you could call it that."  
  
Cali nodded, "No kidding. We slammed a couple of guys against the lockers…in fact, Ryo, they were from your team in PE."  
  
Ryo looked up at Cali, concern in his eyes, "Who was it and what'd they do?" He had a pretty good idea of who it was, there were a few guys on his team who weren't enjoying their losses against Kento's team. He had heard them grumbling in the locker room about girls shouldn't play so well.  
  
"Alex and Bryce," Téa answered, "Bryce came up behind me and slapped me on the ass. Unfortunately, Mr. Ho happened to walk by when we reacted and caught us both. The guys got to talk to Mr. Ho first and they told him we just attacked them. He didn't believe us when we told him what really happened because of my record of fighting. I guess he's going to ask for witnesses to the incident, but until he knows what really happened, we aren't supposed to come back to school."  
  
Ryo's eyes flashed. "I'll be sure to talk to them tomorrow in PE," he said ominously.  
  
Cali fixed a glare on Ryo, "Don't worry about it Ryo, we can handle it. If you get kicked out of school, I'm gonna hurt you."  
  
Ryo glared right back, "Fine Cali, I won't start anything, but I am going to talk to them tomorrow."  
  
Téa tapped Cali on the shoulder and directed her gaze to the window of Mr. Ho's office, Mr. Ho was watching them with disapproval on his face. "We gotta get going you guys," she said to the others, "No point in getting into more trouble for not following orders. We'll be at the beach." She smiled sweetly and started to walk away from the school, Cali joining her. "So Cali, shall we?"  
  
"I could go for some surfing," Cali smiled slyly, "Ya know, we should go visit your dad in Hawaii sometime."  
  
Téa laughed, that was usually what the she and Cali said when they wanted to go surfing in Hawaii. "Sounds like a plan to me, how about this weekend?"  
  
Cali grinned, "Woohoo!!! Can we?"  
  
Téa nodded, "Sure, why don't we invite everyone?" "The guys, too," she added, then laughed as Cali nearly burst with excitement. "I'll pay for the tickets and we can leave on Friday night."  
  
Cali sobered, "But what about Talpa?" she asked.  
  
Téa looked thoughtful for a second, "I think Talpa needs our armors in order to join our two worlds, I mean, why else would he keep sending the warlords to defeat us? In fact, I'm pretty sure that's the case because our armors are all a part of Talpa's original armor…you know, the one that the Ancient separated when he defeated Talpa?"  
  
Cali nodded, "That makes sense, I mean, his armor was what gave Talpa his power wasn't it?"  
  
"That's what I figured from what the Ancient told us, he said that we were to keep Talpa from gaining control of our armors no matter what the cost. Sometimes I'd just like to be a normal teenage girl, and not have to risk my life for the safety of the world, ya know?"  
  
Cali's reply was cut off by a familiar voice. "Awww, poor Angelfire," Cale said from above them on a telephone pole, "I'm sooo sorry that I can't grant your wish, at least not while you still have your armor." He leapt off the pole and landed directly in front of Téa. "Of course, there are other choices," he said, holding her chin between his thumb and finger and tilting her face up.  
  
Téa gave him an icy look, "Are we going into that again? I've already told you that I will never be yours Cale. I don't know why you are so interested in me but get over it." She jerked her chin out of his grasp and stepped back, "If you want to fight, we'll fight. If not, get away from me." She pulled out her armor orb, "What'll it be?"  
  
Cale smiled maliciously, "I'm not in the mood to fight you right now Angelfire, but rest assured, I will be back. You will be mine." Without another word, he disappeared, leaving Téa and Cali alone on the street once again.  
  
Cali looked at Téa, who was shaking slightly. "Are you okay?"  
  
Téa looked up and shook her head to clear it. She smiled unsteadily, "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be? Let's get going, I want to get to the beach." She started walking again, slightly faster than she had before.  
  
Cali jogged to catch up. :What's wrong Téa? His "advances" have never bothered you before,: she Sent.  
  
"Nothing. I'm fine, just drop it Cali," she replied aloud. Cali gave her a concerned look, but didn't say anymore. A few minutes later, the girls arrived home. Téa headed to her room without speaking. Closing the door behind her, she leaned up against it and sighed. "What's wrong with me? I've never been so upset by Cale before, but this time his threat really scared me. What's so different about this time?" She was drawn away from her thoughts by a warm ball of fuzz rubbing against her ankle. She reached down and lifted the Siamese kitten off the floor. "Hey Miko," she said, scratching him behind the ears, "I suppose you're wondering why I'm home so early huh?" The kitten causing her to forget her troubles, she launched into a description of the entire incident for him as she got her things together to go to the beach.  
  
- = ^ * ^ = -  
  
The beach, as was to be expected so early in the afternoon on a weekday, was nearly empty. Cali and Téa spent most of the time on their surfboards. After about three hours of surfing, both girls decided to take a break and get some sun. They were still relaxing when the beach started filling up with the after-school crowd. Elisa, Nina, Nahla, and the guys were some of the first to arrive, ready to enjoy an afternoon in the sun. Téa noticed their approach long before they were aware of it, and she took the time to watch Sai out of the corner of her eye. "Wow, he looks soooooo good!" she thought to herself. She realized that Sai was watching her as well, and he obviously didn't realize that Téa knew. Finally, Téa turned her head so that it was clear that she saw him. She caught his eyes for a couple of heartbeats before he looked away, blushing furiously.  
  
"I wonder if she realized I was watching her," Sai thought to himself as he and the others approached Téa and Cali.  
  
Téa jumped up just before the others got to where she and Cali were tanning and turned to Cali, "I'm going for a swim, coming?"  
  
Cali glanced significantly towards an unaware Ryo and shook her head, "No thanks Téa, I think I'll just stay here a little longer."  
  
Téa grinned, "Okay." She turned to the others, who finally arrived, "Anyone wanna come swim with me?"  
  
Kento dropped his stuff and pulled off his shirt. "I'll go," he said, smiling.  
  
Sai followed suit, "I suppose I'll come as well."  
  
"You suppose?" Kento asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"Well, who else is gonna keep you from drowning?" Sai asked innocently.  
  
"What the…" Kento began.  
  
Téa shut them both up by covering their mouths. "Hush!" she said, uncovering their mouths and taking their hands, "Come children, we're going to swim now." She began to walk towards the water, Kento and Sai trailing silently behind.  
  
Rowen fainted dramatically, "It's amazing! Not only has she managed to embarrass Sage, but she's stopped a fight between Kento and Sai! Now I've seen everything!" Sage and Ryo burst out laughing.  
  
"Well, I've noticed she seems to have the gift of getting others to do what she wants," Nahla said, "She can be very persuasive."  
  
Elisa giggled, "You mean bossy, don't you Nahla?" The girls also dissolved into laughter. The group sat down and began to trade stories about each other.  
  
Meanwhile, in the water, Téa had managed to instigate a water fight between Kento and Sai. Kento, not being the best of swimmers, was at a disadvantage in the deeper water, while Sai was having no problems whatsoever. Téa watched the two for a few minutes before deciding to even up the odds in Kento's favor. She waited until Sai's back was to her, then dove beneath the surface, coming up silently right behind him. He noticed her presence, but not in time. She dragged him under the water. They both came up at the same time, Sai spluttering in surprise. Téa's laugh turned into a squeal when he began to swim towards her too quickly for her to get away. He caught her just as she was about to reach the shallow water and pulled her back into the deeper water. Kento watched from the shallow water as Téa tried to fight her way out of Sai's grasp. Both of them were laughing so hard they were having trouble staying at the surface. Kento laughed loudly when Sai learned that Téa was ticklish and headed towards the shore.  
  
Sai tickled Téa mercilessly, having the advantage in the deeper water. She struggled to get out of his grasp, but only managed to turn herself around until she was facing him. Their eyes met for the second time that day. "She's so gorgeous!" Sai thought to himself as he unsuccessfully fought down a blush.  
  
Téa brushed away a wet lock of hair that had fallen into his eyes. "You're blushing dear," she said sweetly, "That is soooo cute!!!" Sai blushed even more.  
  
"Are you ready to head back to shore?" Sai asked, avoiding her eyes once more.  
  
"Are you?" she countered.  
  
"Actually, I'd like to stay in the water a little longer," he replied, risking a glance at her face. She was still watching him with those strange colored eyes. They're amber colored, he thought to himself, I've never seen eyes like that before.  
  
"Then I'll stay out here with you," she said.  
  
"Why would you want to stay out here? The water's cold," he asked.  
  
"No it isn't," she replied.  
  
:Téa,: Cali's voice sounded in Téa's mind, :We're leaving. Are you coming with?:  
  
Téa looked at Sai, "Cali just told me that they're leaving, do you want to go now or should we stay for a while longer?"  
  
Sai shrugged, "It's up to you."  
  
:We're going to stay and swim for a while longer, where are you going to be?: she Sent to Cali.  
  
There was a moment of silence before Cali replied. :We're going to head up to the lake house since it's Friday night. The guys are going to stay with us at the mansion. Do you just want to come up later with your truck?:  
  
:Okay. We'll see you later.: Téa turned to Sai, "Everybody's heading out to the lake for the weekend. I guess you guys are staying at the mansion up there. We can head up later in my truck, okay?"  
  
"Sounds good to me," Sai replied, "So, you up for a swim?"  
  
"What kind of swim?"  
  
Sai pointed to the small "island" about a quarter of a mile out to sea. "Out there. It's a great place to watch the sunset, and there's a current that goes right back to shore, so we won't have to worry too much about getting lost in the dark."  
  
"Last one there is slow," Téa said as she started towards the island at a fast pace.  
  
Sai caught up with her a few minutes later. "Wow," he said, breathing a little heavily, "You're a good swimmer." Téa just smiled at him and continued to swim.  
  
She got to the island a few body lengths ahead of Sai and they both crawled up onto the beach breathing heavily. Téa smiled sweetly, "You're slow."  
  
Sai laughed. "I just let you win. I didn't want to make you mad," he replied jokingly.  
  
"Nice try sweetie but just admit it, you're slow," she replied with a haughty laugh. She sat up and looked down at Sai. "That was fun," she said, "We should do this more often."  
  
"I don't know about that, I may get tired of you beating me," he replied. "Where'd you learn to swim so well?"  
  
"Hawaii. Cali taught me how to surf so I spent a lot of time in the water. With the waves so big, you have to be able to swim to some extent," she answered, "What about you?"  
  
He shrugged, "I think it's partially because of my armor. Water is its element, but then again, I kinda naturally swim. It's in my blood."  
  
Téa shuddered, his mention of armors reminding her of earlier's incident with Cale. Sai noticed it and asked her what was wrong. "Oh, I don't know. Cale surprised me and Cali when we were heading home from school today…"  
  
"What happened? Why didn't you tell us you got into a fight with one of the warlords?" he asked.  
  
"Because we didn't," Téa replied. Sai looked at her questioningly and she continued, "I think I'll start at the beginning. I've had my armor for about a year. I've known the warlords for about the same amount of time. From the very beginning Cale has had an…interest in me. I am the only one that is pressured into joining Talpa rather than just getting myself killed. Cale has been the main one pressuring me. I guess it's because of the aforementioned interest he has in me. Once in a while, he'll show up alone and "chat" with me. Our…conversations are usually centered around his desire to have me for himself. For some reason, I always hear him out. He usually says something along the lines of there being other choices than fighting against him and the Dynasty in general. Today, he decided to have another little chat with me. When I ignored him, he said he would be back and that I would be his. For the first time since I have met him, I was upset by what he said. I don't know, maybe it was the way he said it, but it really worried me." She rested her chin on her knees and stared out at the water.  
  
Sai moved closer to her and put an arm around her shoulders, "Don't worry Téa, Cale will not get his hands on you as long as I'm around. I promise."  
  
Téa looked at him, "No." At his surprised expression, she continued, "I don't want you to get hurt protecting me, Sai. I would not be able to forgive myself."  
  
"I understand, but I'm not taking back my promise," he replied stubbornly. He quieted her reply with a finger to her lips. Pointing to the sky, he said, "The sun is about to set. Just hush and watch it." Téa nodded and fixed her attention on the sunset.  
  
"That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen," she said after the sun disappeared below the horizon. "We are definitely coming back here sometime."  
  
Sai smiled, "I told you so. Well, I suppose we should head to shore before the water gets too cold." He stood and helped her to her feet. He gestured to the water with a little bow, "Ladies first."  
  
Téa grinned and dove into the water. Sai followed right behind her. A few feet away from the island, they found themselves caught in the current leading to the shore. Both of them swam slowly, allowing the current to do most of the work for them. When they reached the beach, they were both more rested than they had been after the swim out. After grabbing their things, the pair headed to the parking lot near the beach and stowed it in the back of Téa's truck. They climbed in and began the two hour drive to Jewel Lake.  
  
When they arrived at the mansion, Sai moved around the truck to where Téa was standing. He smiled at her and she smiled back. "Listen," he began shyly, "Would you like to go out tomorrow night? I mean, it's okay if you don't but…"  
  
Téa put a finger to his lips, "I'd love to Sai. We'll figure out what we want to do tomorrow, okay?"  
  
"Okay. Let's get inside, it's getting late."  
  
Téa leaned over and kissed his cheek softly, "All right. Good night sweetie." Without another word, she turned and headed into the house, leaving Sai standing next to the truck, a surprised look on his face. A few minutes later, he followed her into the house. 


	4. Chapter 4

The next day dawned bright, clear, and loudly. "KENTO, SHUT UP!!!" Sai's voice echoed through the huge house. Téa sat up in bed, eyes wide. What the hell's going on?!?!? she thought to herself, still half asleep. She glanced at the clock, Nine o' clock, that's it! It's Saturday and I'm being woke up before noon. Someone's getting hurt. She climbed out of bed and stretched. After pulling a brush through her hair, she headed downstairs where Sai and Kento were arguing loudly. "What the hell's going on down here?!?!?!" she yelled, "And who started it?"  
  
Both guys looked up innocently, pointing at each other. Nina grinned wickedly from the overstuffed chair she was curled up in, "Kento did. I saw the whole thing Téa, Sai mentioned you two going out tonight and Kento started teasing him."  
  
Téa glared at Kento, laughter in her eyes at his look of disbelief, "Kento, come here." He stood up guiltily and came over to where Téa was standing, hands on her hips. "Can you tell me what time it is?"  
  
Kento glanced at his watch, "Nine o' clock."  
  
"Can you tell me what day it is?"  
  
"Saturday."  
  
"Would you like to know what happens to people who wake me up before noon on Saturdays?," Téa said, fighting the urge to smile, "Well, let me tell you. Téa gets very mean and hurts the person who wakes her up. Does Kento understand?"  
  
Kento gulped, "Yes ma'am, it won't happen again but…"  
  
Téa raised a hand, "No 'buts', just don't let it happen again."  
  
Cali, who had been watching the entire exchange with a huge grin on her face, spoke up next. "Oooh, Kento got in trouble!!" she said in a child- like voice. Everyone broke out into laughter as Kento sat down, embarrassed.  
  
Téa smiled sweetly at Kento, "Don't be mad sweetie, I still love you." Kento smiled reluctantly and began teasing Sai again. Sai looked pleadingly at Téa, who shrugged, "Sorry hon', can't help you anymore." She looked around the room, "Okay, where's Rowen?"  
  
Ryo grinned, "He's upstairs still sleeping."  
  
"Oh no, if I don't get to sleep in, he don't get to sleep in. Anyone care to help me wake him up?" Téa said.  
  
Elisa jumped up, "I'll get the ice." She sprinted into the kitchen and returned a few seconds later with a glass full of ice.  
  
Sage raised an eyebrow. Téa grinned at him, "Just come and enjoy the show." She took the glass from Elisa and headed upstairs, the others following closely behind. Sneaking up to Rowen's door and pushing it open slowly, she saw the victim sprawled across the bed on his stomach, sleeping soundly. She moved silently into the room and dumped all of the ice cubes onto Rowen's back and stood back to watch them melt. A few seconds later, Rowen jumped out of bed, yelling loudly. The entire group stood in the doorway laughing hysterically as Rowen cursed the general ancestry of every single one of them. Téa smiled sweetly when he leveled a glare directly at her, "Good morning Rowen, how are you?"  
  
"You," he said through clenched teeth, "are an evil person and you deserve to have bad things happened to you. Just wait Téa, I'll get revenge for this and you'll regret it." With that he pushed everyone out of the doorway and closed the door loudly.  
  
"I think he's awake," Elisa said innocently. The entire group broke out into laughter again.  
  
Nahla spoke up, "Who's hungry?" Everyone raised a hand but Kento, who was jumping up and down with excitement.  
  
Téa turned to Nina, "Welcome to the family. I hope you're ready for us."  
  
The strawberry blonde laughed, "I'm sure I can handle it. Let's go get breakfast." Rowen emerged from his room dressed in a pair of jeans and a blue T-shirt and the group headed downstairs to prepare breakfast.  
  
~ * ~ * ~  
  
Nahla whacked Kento's hand with a spoon when she caught him trying to sneak off with some of the pancakes for about the billionth time. She turned and glared at him, "No touch!!!"  
  
"But I'm hungry!" the boy complained pitifully.  
  
"So is everyone else in the room but you don't hear us complaining do you, Kento?" Sage asked from his seat at the table.  
  
"Kento, you try to sneak away some food again, I'm going to toss you out of the room and make you wait until everyone else is done eating," Nahla said sweetly from her perch next to the growing stack of pancakes. She waited until the stack was about ready to tip over before bringing it to the table. "Eat," she said.  
  
Kento piled about ten pancakes on his plate and began inhaling them. Cali, who was sitting next to him with just as many pancakes but eating them at a slower rate, poked him in the side, "Kento, if you start to choke, I'm not going to save you. In fact, I'm going to laugh in your face, okay?"  
  
Kento nodded but didn't slow his pace. Sai leaned over and sat another plate of pancakes between the two. "Don't worry Cali, he's been eating like that since before I can remember and he's never choked on anything that I can recall." He winked at her and went back to helping Nahla finish up breakfast.  
  
Between the two of them, Kento and Cali finished off all of "their" plate and about a quarter of the other. Both of them sat back and grinned at Sai and Nahla. "Good breakfast," they said at the same time. Sai and Nahla rolled their eyes and set to cleaning up the table. Téa offered to take Nahla's place so the girl could go study for her art test.  
  
"Thank you sis'," Nahla said as she headed out of the kitchen and up to her room.  
  
Sai looked questioningly at Téa, "Sis'?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah," Téa replied, "We're practically sisters. Didn't you notice?"  
  
"Actually, considering the way you all act towards each other, I'm surprised I didn't," he said loading dishes into the dishwasher.  
  
"Oh well, now ya know. So, what're we going to do tonight?" Téa asked, handing him some more dishes.  
  
"I think we should go do some karaoke," Kento said, strolling into the kitchen.  
  
"Karaoke sounds fun, so does dancing. But Kento," Téa said in reply, "what's this 'we' stuff? You got a mouse in your pocket?"  
  
Sai burst out laughing and Kento glared at both of them. "No. Everyone was just talking out in the living room and it's been decided that we should all go do something fun tonight. I like the idea of dancing, too. I'm in the mood to go impress some chicks with my moves."  
  
Téa coughed loudly, trying to keep from laughing. She turned to Sai, a smile in her eyes, "I have got to see this. What do think, should we all just go out together?" When he hesitated, she grinned, "Don't worry dear, I'll protect you."  
  
"Sounds like fun," Kento said, "I won't make fun of you." Then he added under his breath, "In Téa's presence."  
  
Téa giggled softly but Sai didn't catch the last part. "I guess that's okay," Sai said.  
  
Kento went dancing back into the living room singing off-key, "We're going dancing! We're going dancing!"  
  
"Kento stop singing!" came Cali's voice from the other room. Laughter could be heard as Kento abruptly shut up.  
  
"If he gets too bad, we can always go disappear," Téa whispered conspiratorially to Sai as the pair walked into the living room. He blushed but didn't say anything. She looked up, "What time are we going to head out there then?"  
  
"Oh, how about eight. That's when things usually heat up at the club," Ryo said.  
  
"Sounds good to me," Cali said. Everyone else nodded in agreement.  
  
"So is this going to be an official date for all of us or what?" Elisa asked, "I mean, if it is, then we'll have to pair up."  
  
The guys looked at each other uncomfortably. "Uh, sure. Why not?" Sage said, "I mean, Téa and Sai already are."  
  
Téa grinned, "I think that's a good idea. So who gets to pick their partner for the evening? The guys or the girls?" She raised a brow, "Even better, me and Sai can assign you guys to each other."  
  
Each of the remaining guys immediately asked one of the girls to be their date. Sai and Téa laughed hysterically at their rush. After the commotion had died down, Sage was paired with Elisa, Kento with Nina, and Ryo with Cali. "I guess that leaves Rowen and Nahla. You might like to tell her, Rowen," Elisa said at last.  
  
Sage smiled sweetly, "So we'll, uh, pick you up at eight?" Everyone laughed again.  
  
Téa stood and scooped up her kitten, "Well, Miko and I are off on a walk. Anyone care to join me?"  
  
"I'll go," Ryo said, standing up.  
  
Téa looked around the room, "Anyone else?"  
  
"I would," Sai said, "but I have some work to take care of before tonight."  
  
"I'm going to go see if I can help Nahla out with her drawing skills," Rowen said, heading towards the stairs.  
  
"Kento and I are going to go spar for a while," Cali said after whispering with Kento for a bit.  
  
Nina looked at Elisa, "What'cha think?"  
  
"I think I'll stay here and make some…stuff," Elisa said. ::Cookies,:: she sent to everyone but Kento.  
  
They all nodded with understanding. "I'll go spar with Cali and Kento then," Nina said.  
  
Téa smiled at Ryo, "So I guess it's just you and me, huh?"  
  
"And Miko and White Blaze," he added as the two headed out the door.  
  
"True, true," she said, placing the kitten on her shoulder. White Blaze padded along behind them. She looked at Ryo as they neared the woods, "Where to? You've been here longer than me…know any interesting spots?"  
  
Ryo nodded, heading towards a trail that Téa hadn't noticed earlier, "Several actually. The forests around Jewell Lake are a great place to go hiking. So Miss Téa, what type of hike are we looking for today?"  
  
"I'm up for a challenge if you are," she replied, grinning. "Let's go up there," she suggested, pointing to the peak that could just barely be seen among the trees.  
  
"Are you sure?" Ryo asked, "It'll take us a good four hours."  
  
"Sounds good, I'm in the mood for a workout," she replied, "That is, if you think you can handle it."  
  
Ryo took the bait, "Damn right I can handle it. Better than you'll be able to."  
  
"So we're on," she challenged. The two of them took off at a determined pace towards the mountain.  
  
~ * ~ * ~  
  
"Ow!" Kento exclaimed when he missed blocking a low kick from Cali. "I'm beginning to think this spar is a little unfair," he added. The two girls had decided to team up against him because he had felt the need to open his big mouth and say that he could take them both with his eyes closed. His eyes weren't closed but he was definitely being proven wrong about being able to take them both.  
  
"You asked for it Kento," Nina said, grinning wickedly, "You're lucky we don't blindfold you too. Then you'd really be saying ow."  
  
Cali laughed. "She's right Kento. You should learn when to keep quiet and when to brag. Never brag about your skills when we're around to hear you," she added, "You'll always end up paying for it."  
  
"Don't worry, I'm sorry I even mentioned being able to take you two. It won't happen again," he replied, blocking a kick to the head from Nina. "You two are evil."  
  
"All five of us are," Cali replied, blocking a punch to the gut and retaliating immediately with one of her own. It connected, barely.  
  
"I believe it," he replied, "Where'd you guys learn to fight?"  
  
"Australia. Apparently, I was destined to bear the armor of Dark Soul, I was trained to fight as soon as I could walk," Nina replied.  
  
Cali simply grinned, "The street."  
  
Kento laughed, "It shows Cali. It shows."  
  
~ * ~ * ~  
  
"Nahla tells me you guys moved from Seattle because you got expelled from your school in Seattle," Ryo said as they hiked up the trail leading towards the summit of the mountain.  
  
Téa blushed slightly, "Nahla talks too much. Yes, it's true; I got expelled. As you've probably noticed, Cali and I love to fight. I'm always the one that gets caught when I get into fights. Before yesterday, Cali has never gotten caught." She grinned at him, "You should have seen the shock on her face when Principal Ho dragged both of us down to his office. If it wasn't for the fact that I had gotten into trouble again, I would have laughed at her."  
  
"Speaking of Cali…"  
  
Téa studied him closely, "You like her, eh?"  
  
Now it was Ryo's turn to blush. "Is it obvious?"  
  
Téa shook her head, "Not really, it won't be to her at any rate." When Ryo gave her a confused look, she explained, "Cali's pretty oblivious to guys' attention. It takes her so long to figure out that a guy likes her. I don't think the other girls have noticed either, it's just that I spend a lot of time observing people, I catch little things about a person's attitude that most other people don't."  
  
"I see. You must be pretty good in a fight, then."  
  
Téa grinned, "Yep. Hell, half the time, I know what my opponent is going to do before he or she does. Let me tell you, a lot of people have been completely baffled by that. They swear I know how to read minds."  
  
Ryo laughed, "We'll have to spar some time, then. I bet you won't be able to predict my moves."  
  
Téa narrowed her eyes, though they sparkled with amusement. "You're on Wildfire." 


End file.
